Mr.

Duisenberg Favorite Puzzles in 3rd Grade 2008-2009

1. Mini-Sudoku – Place 1-3 in each row and column

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2. OTTFFSS. What letter comes next?

3. Fifteen toothpicks in three squares, remove 6 to leave ten.

4. 9 dots (3x3). Connect them with 4 straight lines without lifting your pencil.
• • •
• • •
• • •
5. 16 dots (4x4). Connect them with 6 straight lines, ending where you begin.
6. You have a 3 and 5 gallon container. How can you make exactly 4 gallons?
7. Magic Square. Place 1-9 into a 3x3 grid such that every row, column and
diagonal sum to 15.
8. Why is this a Christmas greeting? ABCDEFGHIJKMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
9. Persistence Numbers: Take a 2 digit number and multiply its digits. Repeat until
you reach a single digit. What starting number requires the most steps?
10. How many squares (of any size) are on a checkerboard?
11. What is the most money you can have (in coins) without having exactly $1?
12. What numbers come next? 1, 0, 3, 11, 15, ?
13. A bottle of soda costs $3. The soda is worth $2 more than the bottle. How much
is the bottle worth?
14. There are 9 balls and one is slightly heavy. Find it with only two weighings on a
balance scale.
15. Man, Grain, Goat, and Wolf, crossing a river. The man may take only one of his
possessions on each trip. How does he do it without the goat eating the grain or
the wolf eating the goat?
16. A lily in a pond doubles its size every day. It takes 2 weeks to cover the pond.
When is the pond half covered?
17. Place 8 queens on a chessboard, such that no queen attacks any other.
18. How many flowers do I have if all of them are roses except two, all of them are
tulips except two, and all of them are daisies except two? [Two answers.]
19. 3 hens can lay 3 eggs in 3 days. How long will it take 6 hens to lay 6 eggs?
20. Place only 4 marks on a 12-inch ruler to be able to measure 1 to 12 inches.
21. Use six toothpicks to make four equilateral triangles.
22. deft, laughing, hijack, calmness, canopy, [?], stump. What word could be [?]
23. Two days ago I was 29. Next year I will be 32. When is my birthday?
24. A clock’s hands are at a right angle how many times between noon and midnight?
25. A snail climbs up 3 feet every day and slips down 2 feet each night. How long
until he exits a 10 foot well?

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Mr. Duisenberg Favorite Puzzles in 3rd Grade 2008-2009

Solutions (No peeking!)

1. Mini-Sudoku – Place 1-3 in each row and column

1 2 3
3 1 2
2 3 1

2. E. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
3. Spell TEN
4. Think outside the box. Try this pattern with the same four lines
• • • •
• • •
• • •
• •
5. Both diagonals extended. Then 4 less-sloped diagonals, each through 2 dots.
6. Fill 3 from 5. Empty 3. Pour 2 into 3. Fill 5 and pour 1 into 3, leaving 4 in 5.
7. Hints: Center is 5, middle side is 1. Neighboring corner is 6.
8. Noel. “No L”
9. 77
10. 204 squares. 1 8x8, 4 7x7, 9 6x6, 16 5x5m 25 4x4, 36 3x3, 49 2x2, 64 1x1.
11. $1.19. One way: 3 Quarters, 4 dimes, 4 pennies.
12. Each number is the first that uses 3,4,5 letters in its name. Next are 13, 17.
13. $0.50 for the bottle. $2.50 for the soda.
14. 3 vs. 3. If heavy weigh 1 vs. 1 from that group. If not, remaining 3 are heavy.
15. Goat, Empty, Grain, Goat, Wolf, Empty, Goat.
16. 13 days. The next day it doubles to cover the pond.
17. 12 answers. One:In successive rows, place queens in columns 4, 7, 3, 8, 2, 5, 1, 6.
18. (a) Three: one rose, tulip and daisy. (b) Two: 2 lilies.
19. 3 days. Each hen lays 1 egg in 3 days.
20. Different answers. Some: Marks at 1,4,7,10. Or at [1,4,5,10]. Or at [1,7,8,10].
21. Make a pyramid.
22. first. Each word has three successive alphabetical letters.
23. December 31. Today is January 1.
24. 22.
25. On day 8, the snail reaches the top of the well.

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